Tree of Life: Branching Out Featuring Amy Willoughby-Burle

Welcome to the first installment of the TREE OF LIFE: Branching Out collaborative writing challenge, where creative minds meet epic movie music. To read the collective story in its entirety as it unfolds and for more details on this groundbreaking collaboration with Audiomachine click HERE.

Today’s featured guest writer is the brilliant Amy Willoughby-Burle. Amy is especially amazing considering she started us off on this incredible journey just days before her fourth child is expected to make his debut:) Let’s give Amy a round of virtual applause and shower her with adoring comments for what promises to be an unforgettable story! You can visit Amy at Three Moons Rising and her official website.

She crossed the dew dampened yard on bare feet as the sun tried to break itself against the gray sky. At the cliff’s edge, she ran her hand around the trunk of a lone scrub-brush tree—barren as the dead fields in the way off. She felt the scratch of tree bark across her back—the thick morning wind bringing the bare tree branches down around her like a mother’s arms.

In the distance, someone approached, walking a horse at his side. She was accustomed to watching people walk away, but it had been a long time since someone had entered this land.

Something lit into her hair and she reached up to pull a green leaf from just above her brow. The wind yanked the leaf from her fingers. When she looked up to follow it, there at the tops of the dead tree grew bright green leaves, unfolding and reaching toward the sun even as she watched them.

ATTENTION FANS: You can WIN an autographed TREE OF LIFE Audiomachine album by LEAVING COMMENTS! On August 17th, two lucky readers will be chosen at random from the comments section of the story excerpts. The more you comment–the better your chances are of winning a piece of cinematic history! We want to hear from YOU!

A new life, new leaves at the top of a dead tree. A most thoughtful and provocative beginning, Amy. Hopefully, my posting with mention of you, will help bring further awareness of your good self and this fascinating project.

Thanks, Gary! Sorry for the late reply, but I’ve been wrapped up in another “life” this last week or so–delivering my fourth child. I’m excited to read all the entries I’ve missed and for all those yet to come!

What a fantastic start to this collaboration- thank you so much, Amy! You opened it up really nicely and I’m so psyched! I would say I can’t wait for the 28th except that I’m sort-of relying on the time to prepare and figure out where the story’ll be headed once I’m up. Looks to be even more fun that I thought, though. Yeah, super psyched!